KP: Defender
by Fabius Maximus
Summary: Something strange has happened to Kim... and may end the world.  A story that takes a bit of the setting from another universe- predict it if you dare...
1. Chapter 1

Kim Possible: Defender

* * *

All characters are property of their respective owners. This is partially a crossover, but I won't reveal just yet to see if anyone can guess. First one to guess and leave it in the review gets a: WOW, YOU'RE A SCI-FI GEEK! Award.

* * *

Ron, Kim's Parents, and the Tweebs sat around the table. Ron looking exhausted, the others not looking much better.

"Where is he hiding her?" Ron muttered. Since Kim had gone on a solo mission nearly two weeks ago, there had been no sign of her-and no sign of Dr. Drakken, the individual she'd been sent to stop.

He hadn't even ranted about capturing her, and Ron, GJ and Team Go had raided nearly every one of his lairs...to no avail.

"You'll find her, Ronald." James Possible said quietly. "Drew isn't the sort to-" He stopped, looking over at the Twins, and then looked over at Anne.

_Isn't the sort to Murder Kim._ James continued silently. On the other hand, if she had fallen wrong and broke her neck, he _also_ wouldn't be the sort to come forth, and the fear that Kim had died, accidentally or at his hands, was looming large. That would explain why Drew was hiding...

* * *

Then:

Lowerton.

_I've been stupid._ Kim's first thought. She'd entered Drakken's lair, been captured, and he'd dosed her with something. The next thing she knew was that she was managing to get out, escaping his guards...and then breaking into the nearest supermarket, the only thought on her mind quelling the raging hunger, ripping open frozen dinners, ignoring the pain as her teeth broke on the frozen patties...

And then nothing.

_Well I'm alive._ Kim thought, her mind moving faster than it ever had before. Drakken had obviously dosed her with some form of transformation virus or infusion- and hadn't expected it to have such a fast effect. She should be dead with a ruptured stomach, but in fact she felt fine... which indicated that he'd possibly misjudged how long she'd be incapacitated in addition to how long it took the effect to kick in.

Which wasn't surprising, Drakken tended to not expect many things from his work. Kim frowned, thinking about all of his plots.

_Why didn't he leave the Diablo's self powered? Or at least have back up transmitters?_ You could put in a limited neural net AI into the Diablos so that they wouldn't have even needed a transmitter which would allow you to- Thinking, Kim brought up her hand, and then stopped as she saw it.

_Transform Virus. Definitely a Transform virus._

Her hand looked like a leathery mummified claw, the joints the size of walnuts. Black retractile claws tipped it and on the ground...

Yah. Her teeth, lying on the ground like a scatter of oddly shaped pearls. No wonder her face felt odd. Kim got up, feeling lighter and stronger then she ever had before, and walked across the room, littered with torn open packages.

Her shirt had been torn open, which didn't seem to be a problem as she'd lost her secondary sex characteristics to the same change that left her skin looking like leather armor. Looking into the freezer metal, Kim looked at her...face.

Her Expressive green eyes remained, now deep set into her face, but her brain case was huge, distended made out the same leathery skin as the rest of her. Her mouth had changed, with a hard, chiten beak replacing her lips and teeth. Her other joints were like her finger joints, looking like someone who was suffering from terminal arthritis, knees, and elbows the size of grapefruits. She should be a cripple.

_Except I'm not. These are providing better leverage- I'd bet I'm at least 5 times as strong as a normal human... The hell? Drakken couldn't come up with this.._

Kim paused and thought. She should be more upset. Why-oh, of course the loss of her sex characteristics probably involved massive changes to her blood chemistry to say nothing of what the changes to her _brain_ involved.

_Well. Time to find out what the hell happened._

TBC.


	2. Chapter 2

Kim Possible: Defender

Well, SHADO commander, RedBlueGreen and RonHeartBreaker get official:

WOW, YOU'RE A SCI-FI GEEK! Awards. Wear them with pride. :)

Part II.

* * *

Investigations.

Then:

"Wade, can't you find her?" Ron said, trying to keep the worry out of his voice.

"No." Wade responded. "I guess Drakken got smart after the Diablos. I know she went into the lair, but the jamming knocked out any sensors, and well..."

"yeah." Ron said, looking around. Kim had gone alone, since Ron was in Upperton with his parents, and she hadn't wanted to bug him.

_I wish she remembered how well that almost turned out when I tried it last Christmas._ Ron thought. After the jamming had died down, Wade had called Ron, and GJ.

"I expected this would happen at some point." Will Du's voice intruded into Ron's thoughts.

"Dude, you so don't want to go there, about the Amateur thing." Ron gritted out.

"Why not." Du said, "This is _exactly_ what I was worried might happen. She's missing because she had no backup, nobody waiting to cover her, except a shut in pre-teen on a computer."

"I know, right, I screwed up! Fine!" Ron shouted back, feeling a stinging in his eyes.

"That's no-"

"Du!" A feminine voice cut in, "That's enough. Go help the forensics team. Maybe there's something we missed on the first go through."

"Yes, Dr. Director." Du said.

Dr. Director turned to Ron and sighed. "In this case, Ronald, I think that Du may have a point. I know that Kimberly prizes her independence, but as she gets older, it may be wiser is she considers joining a larger organization."

"I-" Ron closed his mouth over the first five things he was going to say to the older woman.

"But let's find her first." Dr. Director said, "That's our first priority."

"We'll find her." Ron said, and wished he sounded more certain.

* * *

Leaving the supermarket was Kim's first step. She hadn't been thinking- had in fact not been capable of thought beyond knowing that there was food in the market, so she'd no doubt left a plain trail. Fortunately, it had been the weekend, and she'd not triggered any alarms, so nobody had immediately noted her.

Fingers quickly assembling an igniter, Kim nodded to herself. Nobody would know now. It was easy enough to rig a propane fire here, and the heat would destroy any evidence in the meat locker, as well as calling enough firefighters to completely disorder any information that might be around outside.

_Which ignores the problem of Drakken._ Kim thought. _Or rather, what Drakken might do._ She was almost certain he didn't understand what this transformation was. Given Drakken's inferiority complex towards those he saw as smarter, his childish attempts to prove himself better, she doubted he would have made something that was smarter than he was.

Like her.

_Don't get arrogant, _she cautioned herself. _Remember, that's how you ended up like this in the first place. What is Drakken included a hard coded obedience reflex, a biological self destruct device, or just an implanted mind control chip or bomb. _

Kim nodded. Until she had eliminated those possibilities, staying far away from Drakken was strongly indicated. As was staying away from her family. If she was discovered, Drakken might attempt to-

Suddenly the room seemed to dim as Kim gripped a metal work bench so hard her fingers left imprints in it. The rage filed her with images of what she could do to Drakken. Maybe a fast acting nerve gas, or perhaps a nanite based devour swarm- or just breaking his neck and Shego's for good measure.

Come to think of it, his goons could be taken down, as well as their families to insure that there was no chance of them coming back at her family. It would also leave more room for her-

Kim fought her mind to a stand still. She loved her family, but this wasn't love. This was some form of...atavistic reaction.

_Drakken would have never put this in_. She thought, still wrestling with her fury, forcing it down. She reminded herself why she did what she did. _She had fought for the world, not just her family_.

_But they're my bloodline._ The thought came out of nowhere.

Kim's conscious mind fired back, _So is the rest of mankind._ AFter all, they all shared a common ancestor. In any case, A group wasn't was stronger if they were all the same. Differing minds, different attitudes, coming at a problem...

Kim started taking deep breaths.

"I really need to learn more about myself." She said softly. She had been very, _very_ lucky that nobody else had been near her.

And so had they.

Going by her family was out, but fortunately, Kim knew exactly who to see.

* * *

DNAmy was terrified. That night she'd opened her lair's door to a knock, to be confronted by some strange figure wearing a hood. It had casually punched her in the solar plexus, immobilizing her while it rushed in the door.

Her bodyguards, A Pandalion, and Tweetiwolf rushed it...and it took them down just as easily, blindingly fast hands finding nerve points, reducing them to unconscious lumps that were tied up and put in a guest room. Then, Amy found herself unceremoniously picked up and carried down stairs to her lab, being tied up comfortably, but inescapably. The creature pulled it's hood down, revealing it's hideous form, two deep set green eyes peering out at her.

Those eyes looked familiar, Amy thought.

"The room is sound proofed, so scream if it makes you feel better." The creature said, its beak having some problems with the words, "But I'm not going to hurt you. I just need to borrow some equipment. Oh, and some food."

The next two days passed like a blur. The creature barely spoke to her, but moved like lightning. Never once did she see it still as it easily cracked her passwords and started using the computers- not just using, but modifying them. Her TV and computers from upstairs ended up on a bench where they were being transformed into a variety of gadgets, the creatures knobby fingers moving like lightning. It even modified the layout of the room so that it could keep moving, from computer station to computer station, one analyzing a blood sample it had taken from itself, while another analyzed a sample taken from Amy.

"For comparison." It said, when she flinched. "Nothing more."

It wasn't just doing research- Amy was amazed to see her bandwidth maxed out as dozens of screens, scavenged from other parts of her lair, were flashing information. Web pages, news feeds, some things that looked like direct telemetry, they were all going full blast, a data overload that made her head swim- and yet the invader didn't seem fazed by it at all, occassionally pausing to look up from some task at something that was interesting, before going back to its lightning fast work.

And of course it was always eating. Munching away on carrots, or meat, which it quickly prepared. It let Amy go to the bathroom and eat, as well as feed her living cuddle buddies.

Amy didn't try to run. She wasn't even tempted after she saw her captor come walking down the stairs, casually balancing a 600 pound computer core on one shoulder. It even let her sleep in her bedroom, after modifying the lock. It let her out in the morning and sat her down in the lab. Amy supposed that could indicate over confidence, that she was no longer bound.

But she didn't think so.

Finally, on the third day, the creature, paused, yawned, and went around wiping the computers.

Even through her worry, that annoyed her. From what she could understand, those computers had been running very, _very_ powerful genetic sequencing programs. The sort that she hadn't dreamed possible..and then the creature started dismantling them, which added to her annoyance.

The creature paused, looked back at her, and she could have sworn she saw amusement in those oddly familiar eyes.

"Sorry. You're not actually a poster child for the responsible use of technology." It turned and walked towards her, "Now, one last thing..."

Amy squeaked in terror as she was injected, and held her breath to see what was going to happen.

"Feh." The creature muttered, "I could kill you in about a thousand ways- do you think I'd waste three days of effort on _that?_"

"Then what..."

"I examined your profile, to compare it to mine." There was a pause, "I noticed that you have some very borderline chemical imbalances in your brain. Likely they manifested as very minor paranoid tendencies, which explains a lot-"

"That's not true, I'm not crazy!"

"Of course not- but you were _also _genetically predisposed to being slightly over weight. Let me guess, classmates made fun of you?" Amy nodded, as the creature continued, "I think it was a contributing factor to your cuddle buddy fetish- they never made fun of you or stabbed you in the back... but you're also a genius and geniuses need some form of interaction which is why you started trying to _make_ companions."

"So what-"

"That will bring your brain chemistry back to normal- it's a retroviral." The creature turned back and handed her a thick sheaf of paper. "And here is a list of the best therapists in the state- you'll need more than just a pill to work through your loneliness issues."

Amy bit her lip at that one. "Global Justice would just lock me away."

"No- you're going to do something to make people happy." A third sheaf of papers appeared with a vial this time.

"what's..."

"Treatment for Rabies." The being said, "Works at any point up until permanent brain damage and also immunizes the victim, and _this_." One knobby finger gestured at another thick print out, "Is the schematics and information to make a dust carried vaccine- spray it over a region and virtually all the mammals will be immunized from the virus- so you give the world a short and long term solution to a pretty big problem."

"How will I-"

"Study the data- you could have done it yourself, actually, in about five or six years." Now the figure was putting on what looked like a harness/vest combo, with what must have been a few _hundred_ pouches, pockets, loops and mounting rings for a back pack that was nearly as big as it was. As it put it on, it continued, "And you might want to think about that. You have a lot more to offer the world than walking cuddlebuddies."

Widgets, of every shape and size started to vanish into the pockets and backpack, until even that being must have felt the weight, Amy thought, but it moved just as fast as it ever had.

Heading up to the entrance it paused, "I'll be gone in a few, I'd advise against sending your body guards to chase me. I might hurt them. I'd also advise against mentioning me, since you're taking credit for the greatest health innovation of the year..."

"I...of course."

"spankin." It said and then it was gone.

"sp-" DnAmy remembered where she'd last heard that comment, on an interview on TV...

Her eyes bugged out.

TBC.


	3. Chapter 3

Discoveries

* * *

Then: Kim

_One nice thing about dealing with people the world assumes are crazy- if they claim that Kim Possible has turned into a super intelligent monster, not many will believe them. _

Kim would have smiled, if she could have- but the visit had been very profitable. Not only had she properly equipped herself, she'd confirmed, both by examining Amy's computers and the woman's own reactions to her, that DNAmy had nothing to do with the transformation virus.

Which unfortunately reduced the number of likely human sources for the virus to 0. Even Amy was a long shot, but without her...

Kim thought carefully while trotting at a brisk 30 miles an hour. The holographic screen she'd put together kept her invisible, while she stayed carefully away from any crowded sections. Her final touch, a scent neutralizing chemical, kept dogs and similar annoyances from noticing her.

_Drakken couldn't have made this virus on his own. He's not that skilled and is constitutionally unable to avoid taking short cuts._ She thought as she continued moving. _So he stole it. From someone or something. Shego was stealing diamonds and..._

_I'm an idiot._ Kim thought without pausing, _Of Course Shego stole some diamonds from the museum- she's greedy and likes to flaunt her abilities. That wasn't why she was there- Drakken sent her to get something else, because he almost always uses money as a means to an end, not the end itself. _

It could have been something taken earlier, but Kim didn't think so. Drakken hadn't even hinted at this capability before Kim had charged in after Shego to get the diamonds and was captured. Ergo, he didn't have it before.

Slowing up, Kim leaped straight up, grabbing the edge of a buildings wall and went swarming up the five story building until she hit the top.

_Good._ Once secure, she established the wireless connection from the systems she'd built at DNAmy's- her Kimmunicator, now modified beyond anything Wade could imagine, folded out, giving her a holographic image while she quickly typed in commands.

_Fine, Museum closed, due to damage... artifacts of Ancient Egypt..._

_Canopic Jars and mirrors that were found in a pre-dynastic tomb._ The low resolution picture was badly done but the figures on the jars... Kim paused, thinking very, very hard, even for her. Well, it was only a few minutes worth of work to confirm or deny and it was a very good lead- better than charging in, or manipulating someone into charging into all of Drakken's lairs. Just in case, Kim put in a data miner program, seeking out any information about similar changes, unexplained illnesses, or anything relating to Shego or Drakken.

* * *

Now:

"Ronald Dear. " Nana possible, just in from Florida, said quietly. "You need to calm down."

"Running all over the place ain't gonna help, Squirt." Slim Possible agreed. "She's been in worse situations than this."

"I know, but why isn't Drakken talking about it? You think he'd be crowing."

"I'm worried about that myself, Ronald." Nana replied, looking at the rest of the clan, Joss, and the Tweebs looking like they were living in a bad dream. "I think that Dr. Drakken's proven with the Diablo's that he can be quite clever at times- and this may be one of them. Think of how much energy we're expending looking for Kimberly... which may be what he intends."

"Is she alive?"

"I..."

"I think she is." Anne Possible cut off her Mother in Law. "Drew likes big complex traps..which give the victim time to escape. I don't think he has it in him for cold blooded murder- at least I hope not."

* * *

Kim:

It took Kim about 30 seconds to blow through the museum security and 20 of those were convincing herself that yes, it was that easy and not some complex trap set up to get the over confident. Moment's later she was on the ground, the cameras being fed a loop of the last hour, and the other alarms ignoring her- not turned off mind you. It would be _very_ poor form to leave such an obvious red flag.

The gem collection was still walled off by police tape, the plasma burns and holes in the wall giving mute witness to the fight they'd had. Kim shook her head at that.

Inefficient.

Moments later, Kim was in the Ancient Egypt section and behind her mask like face was calling the curators every name she could imagine or make up. How anyone could have decided this was just another example of early human art...

_In fact, I think I'll have to invent a new language to properly curse...those brainless, idiotic...ARRRRGGGGHHHH._

The Canopic Jars were very, very early- and didn't have very much in the way of commonality with the ones that came later. The plague described the art on them, talking about they were obviously some early king who had suffered from severe arthritis, and in keeping with many traditions had been depicted as a bird headed god.

Or, something looking very much like Kim. The brain case was smaller, the body looked more streamlined, but it was definitely from the same line. Kim pulled out a sensor and quickly scanned the jars and got another surprise.

Inside they had the dried remains of fruit- something that looked a bit like a yam.

_Well._ One of the jars had a tiny hole drilled in it, and analysis indicated it had been done in the last week in a half.

_So that's where Drakken got the virus._ Kim thought, as she carefully scooped them up and put them in her backpack.

The 'bronze' mirrors were another example of human failing, she thought. _Nobody_ had considered that making three mirrors, each one identical to within the micron in size might be a _bit_ difficult for a group barely beyond copper? What had they been thinking?

_Maybe they didn't want to be tarred with the new age brush?_ Humans, after all, were very good at ignoring or discrediting inconvenient truths.

A quick check showed that their temperature was the same, no hot spots, no variations in the surface, no ridges or cracks- Kim quickly ran a few other tests.

_The atomic bonds were enhanced._ She thought, impressed. Those small objects, no more than six inches on a side and less than a pound apiece could survive the fireball of a fusion warhead. Someone wanted them to survive.

And the reason was obvious. Kim turned a laser on one of them, waiting while the object gradually heated- and there it was. Symbols.

_Fine. Prime numbers, some geometric symbols- that's obviously representing the base periodic table... It's a primer. Change the temperature and you get other pages. You can start low tech, but I bet the deeper in you get the more you need in the way of heat or radiation to access it. _

_Nice. You don't waste someone's time by handing them info they can't make use of yet. _

Kim cocked her head at the page, now showing another page full of symbols- almost too small for human eyes to examine, but not hers.

_STL? If they were restricted to slower than light travel they'd have to have things like this- to account for possible linguistic drift. _

But that didn't make any _sense_. The Lowardians obviously had FTL which indicated it couldn't be that difficult- Kim could think of three or four possible methods right off the bat.

_So maybe not that. A time capsule? As a memorial...or a way to survive._ Of course, Kim didn't know if the data slabs came from the same source as the root, or if the being on the canopic Jars had intentionally handed them over or if they had been taken after it's death...though if it was anything like her...it'd be very difficult for Egyptians to kill.

_On the other hand, after this period, the Egyptians developed an entire mythology based around 'dying' and rising again...hmmmm..._

While she was considering this, Kim was deciphering the language, even as she left the museum as tracelessly as she had entered it. Several miles away, in an abandoned building, she squatted, pulling out some of the carrots she'd taken from DNAmy and munched on them while she continued to extract pages from the book. She didn't need to use the same method the book expected now that she knew how its data was stored- the sensors she built were extracting it, archiving it and flashing it in front of her eyes.

_Here we go. This looks like a history._ Kim read it for several minutes.

_Oh. Hell. Drakken had to have found this._ Utter disaster was the general term for the outcome of most of his plans, but this...

At least now she knew her name.

_**Protector.**

* * *

_

"My problem, Shego." Drakken crowed, "was that my henchmen were too greedy, too much of a group of loners. That's why this group has some specific qualifications.

"Yeah, and when the princess shows up to wreck this plan..."

"She won't- why do you think I left my first lair- and i've never _used_ this lair." The blue mad scientist smiled. "By the time she finds us again, even if she recovers from the dose of my super soldier virus, I'll have a hundred strong, powerful soldiers. If those legends are right, they're stronger and faster than any human-without having to use Dementor's rings!"

"Whoo-ho. And your qualifications?"

"I need to make certain they work together, and have a strong ethic...so each and every one of these volunteers has children. They're all family men, and they know they need to do their best to get this pay. Think of it Shego- an army of 100 super soldiers working for me to bring home money for their kids!"

TBC.


	4. Chapter 4

Revelations:

All characters teh property of their respective creators. Protectors are copyrighted by Larry Niven.

* * *

Now.

_I don't have a choice. _Kim thought. She'd put some measures in place, but she didn't have a choice. She was fast, strong, probably (at least for now) the smartest being on the planet...but she couldn't be more than one place at once. She needed help.

_Drakken, I'd kill you but I have a bad feeling I won't have too_.

Finally she accessed the Kimmunicator. Oh not the physical unit, that had long since been distributed among her gadgetry, but the com routines were copied over to her own computer, since they were...effective.

In a crude way, mind you, but effective.

"Wade."

"Kim...KIM!" the young genius's voice echoed in her ears. "Why can't I see you, were are you, you've been missing for two weeks, what's going on-"

"Meet me at my parents house. Do not call them. Go there _personally_ and tell them. No further communication and make certain Global Justice isn't there- if they're within a mile of the house I'm not showing up. If they aren't, I'll be there by 8 tonight."

Kim shut off the comlink without bothering to say good bye.

_Sorry Wade, but you're just wasting your time if you're trying to track this._ She'd routed the signal through a hundred subsidiary links, after all.

"You certain it was here?" Slim asked.

"It sounded like her." Wade said, "A bit of a lisp, but it was here."

"Why wouldn't she want us ta call GJ?" Joss asked, the 12 year old sitting between Jim and Tim. "I mean, they're the good guys, right?"

* * *

Outside, Monique and Tara were lurking. The two girls had made the decision to come over, but the house was sealed up tight- windows with the drapes pulled, outside lights off...it turned on Moniques SIRWH sense (Something is Really Weird Here.).

"Maybe we should just knock?" Tara asked.

"I don't know-what if they're being held hostage." Monique said, "I think we should call the cops."

"But-"

"Girlfriend, this isn't like the Possible's." Monique pulled out her cel and blinked .

"No service?"

"Nope." The voice behind them caused the two to start spin around, but before the motion was half completed, two arms, each one stronger than a bears, held the two girls, lightly scented pads over their mouths and noses. Moments later, Kim stared down at the two. Sighing, she picked them both up and after scanning the street with her eyes (and a variety of equipment that spy agencies would have cheerfully sold their mothers for.), quickly moved to the door.

A knock on the door led to the door being cracked open. Kim looked in and saw her father at it...and several people behind him. The sensors in her harness also detected a truly _impressive_ amount of weaponry pointed at her.

"I'm your daughter, dad."

"Who are you..."

"Monique and Tara decided to spy a little." Kim said as her father opened the door and let her in.

"Hold it, James." Nana said quietly, "I don't recall full body cloaks and hoods being among Kimberly's fashion choices."

Kim paused and smiled, "And does your rest home know about that hand cannon?" Nana blinked at her grand daughters amused voice. "I always wondered why you carried a big purse like that... and dad, you might want to take lessons from your mother- if shooting did break out, she's the only one in a position where you all won't be getting in her way...like you would be getting in each others way." She easily put the unconscious teens on the ground, "They'll be awake in about 10 minutes."

"KP...why are you wearing that?" Ron asked.

_Tension's high, but given how many times I've been cloned, I can understand why._ Kim thought. She sighed, "I... Drakken changed me. I'm not that pleasant to look at, but I'm not crippled and I'm not crazy and we really don't have time for hysterics. I'm going to drop my hood and cloak now, but please don't freak. I'm not kidding, we _really_ don't have time for hysterics."

To their credit, they didn't. Joss gave a horrified gasp, Dad paled and Kim saw tears start to fill his eyes as he whispered "Kimmie-cub." Slim swayed, his hands whitening on that big ugly .44 he carried when out ranching... Ron seemed to have gone blank. Surprisingly, Kim noted, her mother and Nana seemed to be the least severely affected.

_Don't think like a human._ She chided herself, _Mom's a surgeon and Nana's fought in about 5 wars, not counting 'incidents'. They've both seen worse._

"What...what did Drew _do_ to you?" James asked.

"A little knowledge, dad." Kim said, "Let's go into the dining room, this body takes a lot of stoking, and I'm starved."

"KP...where's your hair, where's your..." Ron turned red and averted his eyes. "where're your _clothes_, you're just wearing a..."

"Harness. Secondary and primary sex characteristics went away as a part of the metamorphosis." Kim paused, "I'm about as sexual as an eggplant now, Ron. Not just physically, but mentally. Sorry...Looks like we're never going to get to 3rd base."

"Third base? _Third base?_" James rounded on Ron. "You mean you and Kimmie-Cub..."

"Eep!" Ron dodged around the couch where Monique and Tara were slumbering, as Ann looked annoyed at her husband's antics.

_Divert some of the stress. Check._ Kim thought, then noticed Nana looking at her with an understanding glint in her eye. _And remember that no human is as smart as you, but that doesn't mean they can be clever and very sneaky...and possess a lot more experience than you have. _

"Cuz..." Joss said, "What _happened?"_

"It was mad science, wasn't it?" Jim said, "Why are your joints so big?"

"Leverage." Kim responded, quickly finishing off the roast she'd appropriated.

"Kimmie..." Her mother quietly said, "I think we need to take you to the hospital- that actually looks like arthritis."

"No." Kim responded. "No time and you have it the wrong way- Arthritis is actually an example of an incomplete Protector Change." She tossed a plate onto the table. "The information is there, but we don't have time for me to tell you how to access it, but here it is-I-"

"Omigod..._Kim?"_ Tara and Monique had woken up.

_Good._ Kim thought, She knew how she could make use of them, but it required them to hear what she had to say.

"In the somewhat changed flesh." Kim quietly said. "Sit down and listen."

"But...but...but..."

"Sit down, Dear." Nana told Tara. "Kimberly, go ahead."

"Good. There's a planet in towards the galactic core- it is...well not the homeworld, but _A _homeworld for a race that calls itself _Pak_." Kim's beak made a clicking sound. "There are three stages- child, breeder and the final stage, catalyzed by eating a root with a symbiotic virus, called _Protector._"

"I-"

"You'll understand Ron." Kim cut him off. "The changes in the Protector include the loss of all sexual characteristics, the development of survival oriented modifications- a second heart down by the crotch, larger joints for leverage, strength that is on the average 5 to 8 times that of a human...and of course a very large, very powerful brain. Oh, the original form of the breeders? They look a _lot_ like Homo Habilis."

"You're saying..." James shook his head, "Kimmie, this can't be true- mankind has a very long history on this world."

"Oh, certainly, that's why I specified _A_ homeworld, not THE homeworld for the Pak. They're obviously a very old species, and the writers on that tablet either didn't know or didn't care about the full breadth of their history- they were in fact lying at least a little." Kim shrugged, "They claimed that they were part of a colony mission and the Thallium Oxide they needed to catalyze the Tree of Life mutation didn't work- so the Protectors died out and left the breeders to their own devices. An obvious lie."

"Why?" Jim asked. "Yeah," his brother added, "I mean, if they didn't..."

"Because _Protectors_ can live for thousands of years, and they don't need tree of life- it's just needed to initiate the reaction. Even a base line Pak Protector is about 3 times as smart as a human and they had an entire STL starship with them." Kim shrugged, "They could have been running and left the breeders without Pak as a way of distracting whatever it was they were running from- that was over three million years ago, so file it in the "interesting but not vital" folder. In any case, it's likely that mission wasn't the first, and given the presence of Pak related mammals and hominids, we can date the species back a long, _long, _way."

"And you?" Nana asked.

"Broke into Drakken's Lair, didn't think to ask why Shego and Drakken were wearing bio hazard suits, they gave me a big whiff of his mutated Tree-of-Life virus and I lost interest in anything but eating." Kim couldn't smile, but her voice was sardonic. "It's a good thing I'm asexual now, because if I wasn't, I'd be mortified at how much I packed away."

"We have to get you fixed!" James burst out.

"Can't. The change is irreversible. Besides we have far more important things to worry about. Drew would have done this for one reason- he wants to make an army."

"My God." Ann looked shocked, "That would be horrible..."

"Yes, but not for the reasons you think." Kim said quietly, "I doubt Drew will live very long...and..." Suddenly her voice was angry, "What the hell were you _thinking_, dad, you and your friends?"

James blinked at the seeming non-sequitor. "What-"

"Didn't you ever consider that Drew had to have been utterly _desperate_ to build those robots in college? You're supposed to be intelligent, and none of you ever even thought about the level of humiliation you put him through by _never letting it go?_ Now_ I'm _having to _clean up your mess." _

"Now dear..." Ann said, coming to her husband's defense. "I seem to remember a problem with Ronald and the Cheer team..."

"I had just turned 16. I'm supposed to be stupid. Dad was an adult. Next baseless justification, please." The others looked at her, as James blushed, but didn't argue.

Monique, looking from father to...daughter, blinked.

_It's like she's the adult and he's the kid. _

Kim shook her head and continued, "Given Drakkens..oh hell, _Drew's_, level of inferiority complex and especially his problems with the Bebes, I doubt he realizes what he has- he thinks he's getting tough goons . He's not. He's getting Protectors."

"So?" Ron asked, "Big _smart_ Goons."

"No, Ron, the _base_ Protector, something coming from a non-sentient breeder, is two or three times as smart as a human, much faster on its feet, and insanely vicious. I'm a _lot_ smarter than a base Protector. Just like anyone he puts through the change will be. If they don't kill him, they'll be using him within hours."

"Vicious..." Nana asked, "How, Kimberly?"

"The original Protectors were dedicated to their bloodlines. As far as anything else goes- think a homicidal maniac, an utterly brilliant sociopath. They will kill _anything _they see as threatening their bloodline- the Tablet had a historical synopsis of nearly a million years-and not one year on the Pak world was without war. Not one. And every war was to the death. Conventional, biological, nuclear- there were tactical alliances, but "peace" is a concept no Protector understands save in the context of the complete extermination of the enemy."

Silence filled the room.

"Yet you aren't." Nana quietly said.

"Don't be too sure. If someone threatened you, I'd kill them off the bat- the thing is, however, I started out sentient- we aren't animals when the change hits so we have a already included ethical context- at least most of us do." Kim raised a hand, before Slim could say anything, "Don't get overly confident- _Hitler_ had an ethical sense- one that any Pak Protector would have understood quite well. I'm lucky, I'm very very lucky- Mom and Dad spent my entirely life teaching me that we have a responsibility to _everyone_, and I've been able to internalize that. But what sort of people do you think _Drakken_ will be using? Goons. If they're loyal to anyone, at least Loyal in any way that would survive the change, it'll be to a family-and they'll likely act a lot more like traditional Protectors."

"Well we have to capture-" Ron started.

"No. We have to kill them. We have to kill them all, and we have to make _damned_ certain we get every last sample of change virus." Kim had some of her widgets out on the table and was setting up a complex array of screens, flicking through information too fast for anyone else to understand it.

"Kimberly Anne Possible!" Her father said angrily, "I'll hear nothing about _Killing_ in this house. You say we've given you a moral code and to talk about-"

"Would you prefer Jim and Tim die? What about Joss?" Kim cut him off. "They're smart, but not smart enough stop a Protector- just smart enough to cause trouble. Protectors have one solution for trouble. They're a competing bloodline- by _existing_ they are a threat."

"We could capture them..." Slim said.

"Yeah- GJ could hold them," Wade started.

Kim's Roar stunned them all, "NO GJ!" She gathered her temper. "Don't you understand? It's not just Drakken- the moment GJ hears about this, they'll realize that this is the key to producing the next generation of super officer-and they'll chose some bright, morally rigid person and give him the virus...and then..."

"They'll get super Du?" Ron said. Kim's look shut him up.

"No. They'll get someone smarter than you can imagine, someone who is utterly ruthless- a sociopath with no higher morality save whatever goal it feels is vital." Kim looked at all of them, "They'll put procedures into effect to keep their pet genie tied down, but I am- just like it would be- far, far smarter than you. As an example, even if you handed them every weapon in the world, and started tied up...how long would it take you to be running the show in a first grade class?"

"Would it be so bad?" Joss asked. Kim's cousin looked troubled, "I mean the world is pretty messed up..."

"You missed the part about 'sociopath'." Kim said grimly, "For example, why do we need people in the middle east? The ideal population of the earth could range from 200 million to about a billion...the rest are excess baggage."

"You mean..."

"I worked it out on the way here." Kim said casually, "Hybridize a modified form of ebola with the flu- make it contagious but asymptomatic, and have its final phase be triggered by another virus... then you release the second virus after say a year of spreading the first- and suddenly people are melting. Rig it right and anyone exposed would die in seconds. No time to make a fuss. No time to damage the physical resource of the planet."

"You wouldn't." Ann said, looking at her daughter in horror, who had just spoken so casually of killing most of mankind.

"No. I can empathize. But I _am_ unusual." Kim spoke without pride, "But there are a lot of people who could see this as a good idea- what if Drakken converts a racist? The Protector change doesn't make us moral- quite the opposite. Ask _Nana_ about how many evil men- or good men committing horrifying deeds for some 'higher purpose' she's dealt with."

"More than I care to remember." Nana quietly said, "Some of them supposedly on the side of the angels." She shook her head, "And many of them quite intelligent."

"Are you sure you're that intelligent, Kimmie Cub?" her father finally said, "I mean, you're a brilliant, ah, girl but..."

Kim gestured at the computer equipment. "I built this out of DNAmy's lab." She lifted a large unit from her back pack and sat it on the table. "And there's this."

"This is..." Suddenly James blinked. "Why aren't we all dead?"

"What?" Monique asked in shock.

"It's a fusion reactor, if these readouts are right..." He looked at them and paused, "Well the ones I can understand, its putting out...well we should all be dead from Gamma Ray and neutron exposure."

"No. It's aneutronic." Kim said, "Remember Drakken's Graviometric ray?" She winked at Wade, "And thanks for leaving all the scan data in the Kimmunicator's on board memory- saved a lot of time, Wade." Kim pointed at the device, "Anyway, I have a high gradient G field that twists the gamma rays back on themselves using a-" She paused, and looked annoyed, "Never mind, I had to come up with some new math to work it." She looked at her mother, "And in the category of doomsday weapons, I can rig it to start a carbon cycle fusion reaction- the containment won't hold, so you'd get about a 250 megaton explosion. Pretty clean, though."

"Fine." Her father said, "I can't convince you otherwise."

"No." Kim said, "You can't. We have to kill them all."

"And then _I_ have to die."

* * *

Drakken was looking down at the first few to start coming out of the change.

"Isn't it wonderful Shego? Look at those muscles!" He said. "Kim Possible will never-"

There were 8 in the infirmary, with the other 92 still unconscious. They'd woken up, looking at each other... and then suddenly, as if they shared the same mind, they leaped, one going for Drakken, seven for Shego.

TBC


	5. Chapter 5

Sacrifices.

* * *

"What?" Kim's father asked, "Kimmie-cub what are you _talking_ about?"

"As long as I'm alive," Kim said, "I can be killed. We're tough, not immortal- and the moment that happens, there are at least a hundred, probably more, groups on the planet who stand a good chance of being able to reverse engineer the transformation virus from my body...and then we get back to, 'Apocalypse, occurrence of'."

"But you're..." Monique said, "Kim, that isn't fair!"

"Isn't it? I'm planning to kill however many people who took Drakken's offer and I'm making damned certain to target the ones with kids first." Kim looked at Monique, "The hell of being super intelligent is that you can also empathize really, really well, or at least I can. Wanna know how their kids are going to feel what dad or mom never come back? Ask me." She paused, "That death...that _murder_ is _only_ worth it if we can _end this_. And that means doing the job all the way, not letting mushy headed thinking stop us half way to the goal."

"I won't let you do that!" Ann said, standing, "I don't care what you look like, _you are my daughter and I-"_

"Won't be anywhere near here." Kim said calmly. "There's going to be a little emergency at your hospital that I arranged, mom, the patients are going to have to be transported to Upperton."

"They can't be- they-" Ann's celphone rang and she picked it up.

"Dr. Possible-what? No! I-" She put it on hold with shaking fingers and looked at Kim. "Those patients can't be moved- it's dangerous."

"Especially if they don't have every doctor on board taking care of them..." Kim said, assembling another widget. "But the possibility of a biological attack would make them take the risk... and I provided them with the kind of threat that they have to take seriously." Kim said in a calm voice, "Don't worry, the same thing is happening at every other hospital in the primary blast radius." She shrugged, "It'll probably tip off any protector, but they'll just assume it's camouflage for moving out bloodlines." Kim's face didn't smile, but her tone said it all, "Which it is, of course."

"I-"

"You should also take Joss, Jim and Tim." Kim said, and then as her mother opened her mouth, "And you probably should try to get a grip on your temper- it's not good for someone in your condition."

"My condition?"

"You're pregnant. That weight problem you mentioned two weeks ago isn't going to be solved by dieting." Kim tapped her beak, "It doesn't look like it, I know, but Protectors are very sensitive to smell."

"I-p-"

"Birth Control isn't 100%." Kim said, "And as much as I tried to pretend you aren't, you and Dad _certainly_ are sexually active... in a variety of ways."

Now her mothers face was brick red, as was Ron and Tara's.

Nana smirked at the two adults. "I told you that you would pay for losing your virginity at 14."

"_Fourteen?_" Monique said. "TMI and IWLTYD!"

"I er..."

Ann shook her head, and looked directly at her daughter. "And this is supposed to distract me from the fact you're considering suicide?"

"No. It's supposed to explain why you can't stop it, you won't be here and..." Kim paused, "The moment they find out who I am, and if there are active protectors, they'll know, the Tweebs, Joss and you, _especially_ in your condition become hostages." She shrugged, "Best to get you all away."

"I...I..." Ann sat down and covered her face.

_Sorry Mom._ Kim thought. Ann really _didn't_ have a choice, now, any more than Kim did. To leave her patients when they needed her, to say nothing of the Tweebs and Joss... _Just wish we didn't have to part for the last time like this..._

"Okay." Kim said, "Monique, Tara, I'm going to need you."

"Um...for what?" Tara asked.

"You two and Ron can go in and try to pull anyone out who is still alive." Kim said, "I made-" She gestured at some of her widgets, "some gadgets for that- they're variants of those mind control chips we ran into Ron..."

"They look bigger..."

"Yah- they also incorporate a scanner to make certain their aren't any biological surprises or the patient isn't in early stage transformation."

"Oh...how will we know? A light, a-"

"If the person vaporizes after you put them on, you'll know." Kim flatly said. "I'm 99.9 percent certain they'll catch anything, but in case they don't, you'll need to tell Global Justice that Drew was working on something nasty and have them taken to a _real_ biowar lab. Fort Detrick, and not the parts they show the public. Maybe Area 51."

_"_Vaporize?" Monique repeated.

"Yah."

"I-"

"No way, Kim!" Ron said, "You say how dangerous these things are and you want Tara and Monique to go in? They're more dangerous than Gil, right?"

"They could tear him limb from limb without noticing."

"Then why?"

"Because they won't bother to kill Monique and Tara. And I'm going to be putting them in a super suit-" Kim gestured at Wade, "Wade, I need the unlocking codes."

"We don't have time to-"

"The regeneration circuitry?" Kim said.

"That won't work, it take way too much power and-"

"Good thing I have a gigawatt fusion plant, isn't it."

"But-"

"We don't have_ time_ Wade." Kim said. "I did all of this in less than two weeks- now I'm certain Drew selected people who were likely more followers than leaders, but none of you have any concept of how_ fast_ Protectors work. If we're lucky, there won't be any...but I'm not relying on luck. Give me the codes or waste a few hours while I crack them." Wade sighed and read out a very long list of numbers and letters.

"Good. I'll be down in a few minutes." Kim said, leaping up and vanishing up the steps to her room.

"I-" James got up and started to follow Kim, but his mother waved him down.

"I'll go and talk to her James."

"Nana, she's not thinking..."

"No." Nana possible said, "That's the hell of it, James, she is thinking rationally. I knew..." She paused, "I knew a man who betrayed an entire resistance cell to the NKVD, because it was the only way to confirm his bonafides to them- to let him slip in false information he absolutely had to get to them, and have that information be trusted. He denounced his own parents...and possibly saved the western world." Now there was a bitter tone to her voice, ash and lost hope, "Not that anyone would know it- his name is sealed deep in classified archives and if his friends and family said his name at all, it was a curse."

"And-"

"And Kim has the same tone he did. I'm sorry James, but I'm the only one who can talk to her right now. None of you can...none of you know."

With that, the slight oldster walked up the steps to Kim's room.

TBC


	6. Chapter 6

Bedroom Chat

* * *

When Nana came in, Kim had already removed the super suit and had connected it to the generator. The suit seemed to be dividing, splitting down the middle.

"It's a good thing nanotech takes a lot of power to work fast." Kim said, "Or gray goo might really be a problem." Without looking at Nana, her wrinkled, knobby hands continuing to work, Kim continued, "So I take it the mob down there is horrified?"

"They worry about you."

"Hmph. Here to try and talk me out of my plan?"

"You mean suicide?"

"Yah." Kim said, "And I don't see it as suicide."

"Oh?"

"Is it suicide when a firefighter goes into certain death?"

"Not always, but firefighters don't start out thinking about certain death."

"Neither did I...but this situation can't have an upside- it's not just Protectors Nana, it's that insane idea of 'improving' the race, of making super soldiers." She paused, "Every time Drakken or Shego, or anyone else has made something, it's always to serve, to be pets, or slaves."

"Dr. Freeman wasn't like that-"

"He built a sentient _car_, without ever bothering to consider she might eventually want to be something else. At least humans are general purpose- if Jim or Tim decide to forget about science and become writers, they can. What could Sadie do? Do you really want to think that people would all be clueless, not malicious, if Freeman was able to iron out the bugs in his designs and make them generally available- or for that matter, that all AI's would be nice?" The protector paused, "But I can't fix that- I'm going to have to fix this mess and hope that _somewhere_ in those monkey brains, people will remember that poking bushes sometimes just wakes up the tiger that's snoozing on the other side."

"And yet you're taking Monique and Tara...shouldn't Ron be the only one to come along?"

"None of them should be coming along, but I don't have a choice." Kim said, "There's too much for me to do myself."

"Well I-" Nana broke off. While they'd been talking the suits had been reproducing, the energy from the fusor letting the suit fabric convert the dust in the air and some random junk Kim had put on the suit itself.

That wasn't what Nana was looking at. The three suits were identical...knobby joints, a full hood that would obscure the face, they all looked like...

"Kimberly..." Nana started to speak, but Kim cut her off.

"Yeah, they look like protectors. Make 'em think there's more than one of us."

"Won't that make them likely to attack-"

"Not for more than a few seconds- they might be fooled by the appearance for a second, but Monique and Tara are too slow, weak, stupid, and merciful to ever be protectors. They'll realize it almost immediately."

"Then why-"

"Even seconds count."

"And if you're wrong, and they do decide they're protectors."

"Then Monique and Tara are dead." Kim stared at Nana, "Which is actually part of the plan. I'm taking them along for three reasons in addition to their undoubted utility as clay pigeons."

"First, if there are any survivors, they can get them to safety."

"And second?"

"They'll be scared _shitless_. Even if they aren't killed, I bet they'll be immediate converts to the church of "no protectors."

"And if they are killed..."

"Third reason- I can tell you what people will say if this comes to light: obviously the problem was Drew made _bad _protectors, unlike _Kim Possible_, who saved the world! So we just have to find some nice moral person to have the change and there won't be any danger."

"I..." Nana nodded, "I see."

"I think you do. What do you think people will say, when Kim Possible, sweet American teen who saves the world, not two weeks after this inhuman change, led her two best female friends, and her boy friend, into a fight that's going to have them all going to psychologists for months, best case. Worst case, one of them is going to get a sudden case of death. If Kim became a monster, who can we trust?"

"And so you're risking their lives."

"Yah. A monstrous and inhuman thing to do." Kim's voice had been the only expressive part of her other than her eyes, but now it was emotionless, leached of any warmth. "And the bad part is? It's still better than the alternative. But this is how protectors _think._" She looked at Nana, "So, still interested in convincing me to stick around?"

"I..."

"But it's good you're up here- I do have a plan that involves you- because no matter what I tell the others, if there's more than one protector on the other side, things could get sticky. I need a fallback. Interested?"

"Of course, Kimberly."


End file.
